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Biomedical subjects

M Armijo

Publications and source records attributed to M Armijo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[A topical solution of 40% idoxuridine in dimethyl sulfoxide compared to oral acyclovir in the treatment of herpes zoster. A double-blind multicenter clinical trial].

BACKGROUND: Both topical 40% idoxuridine in dimethylsulfoxide (IDU) and oral acyclovir (ACV) are useful in herpes zoster (HZ). This is the first clinical trial which compares the efficacy of both drugs in the course of the disease and in the prevention of post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). METHODS: Patients of both sexes older than 18 years, with a HZ of less than 4 days were selected. Patients with otic or ophthalmic zoster, serious concomitant illness or pregnant or breast-feeding women were excluded. Following a double dummy design, the patients received at random topical IDU and oral placebo, or oral ACV and topical placebo. Topical treatment was applied during 4 days and oral treatment during 7 days. The evolution of the disease (number of individual lesions, evolution of symptoms, use of analgesic drugs and eventual appearance of complications) was controlled on days 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and weekly until its resolution. RESULTS: The group of patients treated with IDU (85) showed a better evolution of the disease than those treated with ACV (86) in some of the parameters controlled: day of first and all vesicles drying (p less than 0.05), last day of moderate-intense pain (p less than 0.05), hyperaesthesia (p less than 0.05) and itching (p less than 0.05) and last day of analgesic use (p less than 0.01). The appearance of new vesicles during treatment was lower in the IDU treated group (p less than 0.01). A tendency favouring IDU can be observed in the appearance of PHN. CONCLUSIONS: In our study topical 40% idoxuridine in DMSO was better than oral acyclovir in 7 of the 14 clinical parameters studied.

Acyclovir

Silica and trichloroethylene-induced progressive systemic sclerosis.

Several environmental factors and chemicals have been described as being able to induce systemic scleroderma and scleroderma-like diseases. The present work reports 2 male patients with progressive systemic sclerosis and pulmonary silicosis. Both patients had occupational histories of exposure to silica and one of them of handling trichloroethylene as a degreasing agent. The clinical and analytical findings could not be distinguished from those present in idiopathic systemic scleroderma with the exception of interstitial images with calcified hilar lymph nodes in the chest X-ray suggestive of pulmonary silicosis.

Adult

Picosecond rotation of small polar fluorophores in the cytosol of sea urchin eggs.

A new fluorescence method to measure viscosity in cell cytosol [Fushimi, K., & Verkman, A. S. (1991) J. Cell Biol. 112, 719-725] has been applied to determine fluid-phase viscosity in sea urchin eggs. Freshly harvested eggs from Lytechinus pictus were loaded with the dyes 2,7-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5-(and-6-)carboxyfluorescein (BCECF), 6-carboxyfluorescein (6CF), fluorescein, or calcein. Fluorescence lifetimes and anisotropy decay were measured in single eggs by multiharmonic, frequency-domain microfluorometry using a 1-2-micron focused laser spot and 25x air objective. In calibration solutions consisting of glycerol in pH 8 buffered sea water, probe lifetime was single exponential and probe rotation was isotropic with a single correlation time which increased linearly with viscosity in the range 1-3.6 cP. In eggs at 22 degrees C, there were single lifetimes (in nanoseconds) of 3.6 (BCECF), 3.4 (6CF), 3.2 (fluorescein), and 3.3 (calcein). Probe rotation in eggs had two components, a fast component (in picoseconds, mean +/- SE, 10-18 eggs) of 568 +/- 39 (BCECF), 311 +/- 21 (6CF), 313 +/- 15 (fluorescein), and 516 +/- 44 (calcein) and a slow component of 10-40 ns. The fractional amplitude of the fast component, corresponding to unbound dye, was 0.72-0.81. Apparent viscosities of fluid-phase cytoplasm (centipoises) given by the four different probes were in good agreement: 2.3 +/- 0.2 (BCECF), 2.1 +/- 0.1 (6CF), 2.5 +/- 0.1 (fluorescein), and 2.3 +/- 0.2 (calcein). The viscosity in cytosol of sea urchin eggs (2.1-2.5 cP) is thus relatively low, yet significantly greater than that of water (1 cP) or cytosol in cultured fibroblasts (1.2-1.4 cP).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Construction and evaluation of a frequency-domain epifluorescence microscope for lifetime and anisotropy decay measurements in subcellular domains.

The measurement of time-resolved fluorescence parameters in living cells provides a powerful approach to study cell structure and dynamics. An epifluorescence microscope was constructed to resolve multi-component fluorescence lifetimes and complex anisotropy decay rapidly in labile biological samples. The excitation source consisted of focused, polarized laser light modulated by an impulse-driven Pockels' cell; parallel acquisition of phase angles and modulation amplitudes at more than 40 frequencies (5-250 MHz) was obtained by multi-harmonic cross-correlation detection. Lifetime decay was measured against standard solutions introduced into the light path proximal to the microscope objective. Anisotropy decay was measured by rotation of a Glan-Thompson polarizer in the emission path. Phase reference light was split from the beam proximal to the microscope. Optical components were selected to avoid depolarization and to optimize fluorescence detection efficiency. The dichoric was replaced by a 1 mm square mirror. Fitting routine statistics were optimized for model discrimination in realistic biological samples. Instrument performance was evaluated using fluorescein in H2O/glycerol and H2O/ethylene glycol mixtures and in Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts in monolayer culture. Objective depolarization effects were evaluated by measurement of anisotropy decay using objectives of different numerical aperture. Lifetime and anisotropy decay measured by microscopy (0.5 micron laser spot) agreed with data obtained by cuvette fluorimetry. New biological applications for time-resolved fluorescence microscopy are discussed.

Animals

Incontinentia pigmenti: XXY male with a family history.

We report on the case of a male who from the start of life displayed vesicular lesions; on the trunk these were clustered and on the limbs they adopted a linear configuration. After biopsy of one such lesion, the histopathological study was compatible with a diagnosis of incontinentia pigmenti (IP). In the following months, hyperkeratotic lesions appeared which later became pigmented. The mother and other female members of the family also showed different degrees of alteration related to the same disease. The karyotype study showed the existence of 47,XXY (Klinefelter syndrome). The exceptional nature of this case is that although it is the third case reported in the literature of a male affected by incontinentia pigmenti with a previous family history, it is the only one combining this characteristic with the presence of a 47,XXY karyotype.

Adult

Subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn and idiopathic hypercalcemia.

A newborn with important signs of fetal disturbance and respiratory distress and respiratory distress developed plaques on both buttocks 14 days after birth, with the clinical and histological characteristics of subcutaneous fat necrosis of the newborn. Fifteen days after the onset of the cutaneous signs, a discrete degree of hypercalcemia was detected. Its outcome was favorable due to the early establishment of a diet rich in medium-chain triglycerides and devoid of calcium and vitamin D. Sixteen cases of idiopathic hypercalcemia in newborn with subcutaneous fat necrosis have been reported of which 3 died. Serial serum calcium determinations should be made in such infants and they should be observed closely for signs and symptoms of hypercalcemia.

Adipose Tissue

'Flagellate' erythema from bleomycin. With histopathological findings suggestive of inflammatory oncotaxis.

A case of erythema in a 'flagellate' pattern due to administration of bleomycin in a patient with Hodgkin's disease is described. Emphasis is placed on the low dose of bleomycin administered--15 mg parenterally--and the short time interval between drug administration and beginning of symptoms: 24 h. The histopathological findings were consistent with a mechanism of inflammatory oncotaxis: the attraction of tumor cells by the skin perhaps due to the bleomycin accumulated and the trauma caused by scratching subsequent to pruritus.

Adult

Effect of etersalate on human platelet responsiveness. A study in healthy volunteers.

Ex vivo antiplatelet properties of 2-(p-acetamido-phenoxy)ethyl-o-acetoxybenzoate (etersalate, Daital) and its effects on serum thromboxane A2 (TXA2) levels and prostaglandin I2 (PGI2) generation were studied in human volunteers at two levels of oral dosing. Etersalate inhibited at the lower dosage platelet function and decreased TXA2 levels, but PGI2 generation from rat aortic rings was stimulated when incubated with plasma from etersalate-treated donors. Blood coagulation parameters remained within normal values. It is suggested that etersalate administration could act on platelet arachidonate metabolism at a different level than that of the cyclooxygenase pathway.

Acetanilides

[Epithelioid sarcoma].

A description is given of an epithelioid sarcoma observed in a male patient of 71 years of age. This two-year growth was located in the right leg and presented a clinical picture of a hard walled ulcer. After having been removed surgically the tumour reappeared after seven months at which point amputation was practised at the middle thigh. The patient died twelve months after amputation suffering from pleuropulmonary metastasis. An necropsy was not carried out. The finding of massive arterial neoplastic thrombosis in the histological study confirms the fatal outcome of the patient. The clinical, histological, evolutive and therapeutic characteristics of the epithelioid sarcoma are reviewed.

Aged

[Nevus on nevus. Apropos of 7 case reports, 3 of them associated with other dysplasias, and 1 with an invasive malignant melanoma].

There is some doubt as to whether naevus pilus is identical with naevus-on-naevus or lentiginous naevus en mottes. The former could be classified together with Becker's naevus among the clinically progressive types of epidermal naevi, whereas the latter could be a truly melanocytic naevus of special expression which, for some authors, might become malignant. Seven cases of naevus-on-naevus with different sizes and locations are reported. In 3 cases the naevus was associated with other pathologies: pigmented sclerotic and kyphoscoliosis, verrucoid epidermal naevus, tuberous angioma and underlying muscular hypertrophy. In every case the diagnosis was confirmed by histological examination. An invasive malignant melanoma on superficial extensive melanoma coexisted with a retiform intradermal naevus pilosus. The hypothesis of complex neuro-ectodermic dysplasia and the histogenesis of malignant melanoma developed upon a naevus-on-naevus are discussed.

Adult

Unilateral facial circumscribed hyperhidrosis.

A case of a 15-year-old male with unilateral facial circumscribed hyperhidrosis is reported. No morphological anomalies of the eccrine sweat glands could be noted. The results obtained with local applications of aluminium hexachloride in 20% alcoholic solution are discussed together with the few previous cases appearing in the literature.

Adolescent

[Cutaneomucous hyalinosis in monozygotic twins].

Two Urbach-Wiethe disease cases in both univitelline twins sisters, 8 years old, are presented. Consanguinity is demonstrated in their parents and we consider this to be the second study of this type described in Spain and the first one in the world with such genetic features. We emphasize the early process apparition--just after birth--clinically characterised only by hoarseness. In consecutive years, both sisters developed varioliform scars on elbows, knees, and forehead and induration of lips on their mucous surface and palpebral margins. The histological and ultrastructural findings superposed in both patient--typical and confirmatory of the clinical picture--are commented as well as present histopathogenetic interpretations.

Basement Membrane